I'm feeling a little afraid like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when she was walking through the haunted forest with the tin man and scarecrow thinking about the lions and tigers and bears that might be just ahead. They did encounter that dreaded Lion that decided to join them on their journey. As I recall, they were looking for a heart, a brain, courage, and home. Their journey would turn out to be the way for them to find all of those things that were already within them being strengthened during their time in Oz. And so it is with me... I am feeling afraid as I begin the process of developing a mailing list and newsletter for our small business.

It all started with an article I found on Pinterest. "How to Launch Anything And Make It Rain" was written by Lisa Jacob in May, 2014. I was attracted to the title because I just started this blog a few weeks ago. Jerry and I have plans and ideas for blogging about many subjects that we would like to become a two way conversation with artists, crafters, and small business couples. Lisa's first bullet point was "Build an email List" Oh My! I thought. Here we go again. It's not the first article I have read about the importance of subscriber lists.

I subscribe to Abby Glassenberg's Newsletter and Follow her Blogs at "While She Naps". Over the past two years; she wrote some great articles about blogging, newsletters, and subscriber lists based on her knowledge and expertise designing and sewing stuffed animals and running a creative business. I went back and re-read Abby's articles and then purchased Abby's e-book "How to Create A Powerful Email Newsletter: A Comprehensive Guide For Creatives" to help me prepare for building the email list and send out my first newsletter. In her ebook, Abby shares her experience with getting started and gives encouragement and advice that I know will help me along on this journey.

I took some of my first steps with MailChimp and Weebly. I applied online for the Free Subscription to MailChimp. There is a written "Getting Started with MailChimp Instruction Guide" and Video tutorials that guided me through the process of creating a subscriber list and building a subscriber form. Then, I followed a Weebly Tutorial "Creating a Newsletter Sign-Up Or Autoresponder Form" to embed a simple "Subscribe to GlassEyesOnLine Newsletter" on this blog and the home page of the GlassEyesOnLine Customer Creations Weebly Site.

Wizard of Oz Google Image

By finally moving forward with building an e-mail subscriber list and starting a newsletter; I feel like I'm developing more of my courage, heart, and brain muscles. Next, I'll be working on the template for the newsletter. I'd like to get your ideas for what content we should put in the newsletter. Send us your comments. If you know of good newletter template designers; please share their contact information and samples if available. If you have had some experience with newsletters; we'd like to read about it! Jerry and I would love to have you send your comments and follow our blog. Join us on this and many other adventures with Being Married and Raising a Small Business by signing up below for the GlassEyesOnLine Newsletter!